Kevin Love sends the Magic to a heartbreaking 120-115 overtime loss

They whittled away a 17-point deficit in the second quarter. They eliminated a separate nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter. And they even took a late lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Magic seemed headed for a comeback win.

Then, suddenly, improbably, their night mutated into a nightmare.

Kevin Love hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 10 seconds left in regulation, Arron Afflalo missed a potential game-winning jumper as the fourth quarter ended and the Timberwolves pulled away in overtime to send the Magic to a heartbreaking 120-115 loss at Target Center.

“It kind of hurts more when you feel like you’ve got the game won,” Afflalo said. “After all we’ve been through last season and trying to grow this season, we want to start capitalizing on these type of games.”

In the tiny visitors’ locker room afterward, the Magic felt dejected but also a bit encouraged all at the same time.

“We know we can compete,” said big man Solomon Jones, who contributed four points and eight rebounds.

“We’ve just got to learn from our mistakes. We’ve got 80 more to go. We’ve got to put this one behind us.”

Afflalo finished with a team-high 28 points and also nine rebounds and five assists, while center Nik Vucevic added 22 points and 16 rebounds.

Four other Magic players — Jameer Nelson, Victor Oladipo, Andrew Nicholson and E’Twaun Moore — scored in double figures on the second night of a back-to-back.

The Magic took a 101-100 lead on a driving layup by Afflalo with 24.4 seconds left in regulation, and Oladipo hit a pair of free throws with 12.5 seconds left to extend Orlando’s lead to 103-100.

But Love then demonstrated why he’s an All-Star.

He took an inbounds pass from Ricky Rubio and — using a moving screen by mammoth center Nikola Pekovic on Jones and a questionable screen by Corey Brewer on Moore — and swished a 3-pointer.

The officials didn’t call a foul.

And Love raised his arms, basking in the joyous screams and cheers from the announced crowd of 17,988 inside Target Center.

“I knew we would win the whole time,” Love said afterward. “I told the guys with two or three minutes left that it was gonna be a learning experience for us, and they agreed.”

Most NBA coaches, if their team was ahead by three points with 12 seconds left, wouldn’t have told their players to purposely foul to prevent a potential game-tying 3.

The Magic didn’t attempt to foul.

“I just think it’s a different philosophy in the States,” Vaughn said. “You see it in European basketball a lot. When it goes right, everybody pats you on the back. When it doesn’t, then you’ve got to deal with the coaches and you’ve got to deal [with the reporters].”

The Magic still had one chance to win the game outright, but Afflalo’s 16-foot turnaround jumper from the baseline was just a bit short as the fourth quarter buzzer sounded.

“It was just a routine fadeaway that I usually can make,” Afflalo said. “I didn’t feel pressure. I just left it short.”

Vaughn said: “I’ve seen Arron shoot a thousand of those in practice, and I’m glad it was in his hands. We’ll probably run the same thing next time.”

In the overtime, the Timberwolves made seven of eight free-throw attempts and also received a pair of buckets from swingman Kevin Martin.

The Magic (0-2) no doubt boarded their bus from Target Center wondering what would’ve happened if they had been able to defend without fouling.

The Timberwolves (1-0) made 28 of the 34 free throws they attempted.

“We should’ve been walking out with a victory tonight,” Afflalo said.

jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins. Joshua Vinson contributed to this report.